This Saturday is the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials in San Diego and It looks like my division is shaping up to be the toughest and most exciting of the entire event!!

I'm competing in the 163 and below Brown and Black Belt division among some of the best competitors in the world including Kron Gracie, Zak Maxwell, Mike Fowler, Marcos Torregrosa and Ryan Beauregard. Also in the division are some of my rivals in Tim Peterson, Ryan Sosa, Beneil Dariush and Tanner Rice, any of which I would love to have a rematch against.

So as I said in my last post, Ive already been here for a month but i wasnt with consistent access to the internet and so theres some catching up to do.

When I arrived here in Rio de Janeiro, I was picked up from the airport by my friend Douglas Lins, brown belt from GFTEAM and taken directly to Niteroi (the city neighboring Rio de Janeiro) to fight the World Cup! I was tired from the 14 hour flight, but was hoping it was nothing a little Jack3D and a good warm up couldn't fix.

This is OTM Team Brown Belt Nathan Mendelsohn from Coalition 95 BJJ under instructor Claudio Franca. I'm here on my fifth trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Id like to share my experience with all of you!! In this blog ill share some killer stories about trainng and competing as well as the night life and my experience as an american in brazil in general. I'll also share tips on traveling down here for gringoes so stay tuned!!

Hey guys,
i wanted to share my youtube profile with you so that you can check out some of my competition footage. i was feeling a bit under the weather for my last two competitions. so they aren't the best performances, and the camera ran out of space so the last couple matches weren't captured, but oh well. we have a new camera so that shouldn't be an issue in the future.
please make comments.